Takeda pilots Apple Watch depression app

Partners
with Cognition Kit on patient monitoring wearable

Takeda is testing the use of an Apple Watch app for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Working with UK firm Cambridge Cognition the company is piloting the app to monitor and assess cognitive function in patients with MDD, which affects around 350 million around the world.

Nicole Mowad-Nassar, vice president of external partnerships at Takeda Pharmaceuticals USA, said: “This collaboration is part of our strategy to embrace new technology to better understand the patient experience and assist healthcare professionals in creating improved patient care pathways.”

The small 30-patient trials of adults who have been prescribed an antidepressant will evaluate the app's feasibility and compliance, and aims to understand how a wearable's measures of mood and cognition compare to traditional neuropsychological testing and patient reported assessments.